Commonly, a pair of protective trousers for a firefighter or for an emergency rescue worker has an outer shell and a lining system, which may include an intermediate liner providing a moisture barrier, a chemical barrier, or both and which also may include an inner liner providing a thermal barrier.
Usually, a pair of protective trousers for a firefighter or for an emergency rescue worker has a torso-covering portion having a fly, which has a closed condition wherein a first edge of the torso-covering portion and a second edge of the torso-covering portion are secured releasably to each other, in which the first and second edges extend to an upper edge of the torso-covering portion, and which has an opened condition wherein the first and second edges are not secured to each other.
The torso-covering portion may have a flap, which extends from the first edge, which covers the second edge in the closed condition of the fly, and which does not cover the second edge in the opened condition of the fly. The torso-covering portion may have means exemplified by a waist fastener and by a hook-and-loop fastener, which has a hook-faced strip extending along a given one of the first and second edges and a loop-faced strip extending along the other one of the first and second edges, for securing the first and second edges releasably to each other in the closed condition of the fly. A waist fastener and a mechanical zipper having a first toothed strip extending along the first edge and a second toothed strip extending along the second edge may be alternatively used for securing the first and second edges releasably to each other in the closed condition of the fly.
Disadvantageously, in the opened condition of the fly, the pair of protective trousers does not protect a wearer against a hazardous liquid splashed or sprayed between the first and second edges of the torso-covering portion, against the wearer or against underclothes worn by the wearer.